Fanny and Alexander

Fanny and Alexander
Original Swedish release poster
Directed byIngmar Bergman
Written byIngmar Bergman
Produced byJörn Donner
Starring
CinematographySven Nykvist
Edited bySylvia Ingemarsson
Music byDaniel Bell
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 17 December 1982 (1982-12-17) (Sweden[1])
  • 9 March 1983 (1983-03-09) (France[5])
  • 8 October 1983 (1983-10-08) (West Germany[6])
Running time
  • TV miniseries:
    312 minutes
  • Theatrical film:
    188 minutes[7]
Countries
  • Sweden
  • France
  • West Germany[8]
Languages
  • Swedish
  • German
BudgetUS$6 million[9]
Box officeUS$6.7 million[8]

Fanny and Alexander (Swedish: Fanny och Alexander) is a 1982 period drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. The plot focuses on two siblings and their large family in Uppsala,[a] Sweden during the first decade of the twentieth century. Following the death of the children's father (Allan Edwall), their mother (Ewa Fröling) remarries a prominent bishop (Jan Malmsjö) who becomes abusive towards Alexander for his vivid imagination.

Bergman intended Fanny and Alexander to be his final picture before retiring, and his script is semi-autobiographical. The characters Alexander, Fanny and stepfather Edvard are based on himself, his sister Margareta and his father Erik Bergman, respectively. Many of the scenes were filmed on location in Uppsala. The documentary film The Making of Fanny and Alexander was made simultaneously with the feature and chronicles its production.

The production was originally conceived as a television miniseries and cut in that version, spanning 312 minutes; a 188-minute cut version was created later for cinematic release, although this version was in fact the one to be released first. The television version has since been released as a complete film, and both versions have been shown in theaters throughout the world. The 312-minute cut is one of the longest cinematic films in history.

The theatrical version was released to universal critical acclaim. It won four Academy Awards, including for Best Foreign Language Film; three Guldbagge Awards, including Best Film; and other honours. Fanny and Alexander was followed by stage adaptations and further semi-autobiographical screenplays by Bergman, released as films in 1992: The Best Intentions, directed by Bille August, and Sunday's Children, directed by Daniel Bergman. On both review websites Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic it is the highest-rated film of the 1980s, and has since then been regarded as one of Bergman's finest works, one of the greatest works of Swedish cinema, and of all time.

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Fanny och Alexander (1982)" (in Swedish). Swedish Film Database. Archived from the original on 14 December 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  2. ^ Vermilye 2006, p. 41.
  3. ^ Steene 2005, p. 435.
  4. ^ "Fanny und Alexander". filmportal.de. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference AlloCine was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Filmlexikon was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "Fanny and Alexander (1982)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 20 September 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  8. ^ a b "Fanny and Alexander". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 13 December 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  9. ^ Steffen, James. "Fanny and Alexander". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ebert was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Haenni, Barrow & White 2014, p. 231.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYT was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference Kempley was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Gado 1986, p. 496.


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